


Boy Kings

by emrys (livingshitpost)



Category: Warcraft - All Media Types, World of Warcraft
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Background Character Death, Bonding over trauma, Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Gen, Genn Greymane is dead, Growing Up, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Liam Greymane Lives, Loss of Parent(s), Man Pain, Non-Canonical Character Death, Not Beta Read, Not Canon Compliant, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Post-World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, World of Warcraft: Legion, bc chronology, but also kinda, idrk, quotes from canon, trauma boys..
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-26
Updated: 2018-04-26
Packaged: 2019-04-27 18:29:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14431563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/livingshitpost/pseuds/emrys
Summary: Boys should never have to be kings. Fatherless sons have enough on their shoulders without the weight of the people upon them.Liam knows this all too well.





	Boy Kings

Boys should never have to be kings. Fatherless sons have enough on their shoulders without the weight of the people upon them. Liam knows this all too well. 

There were many times he wished his father hadn't taken the Banshee Queen's poison arrow. Damned old fool. Leaving behind his two teenaged children and a wife who could not, according to the law of their land, be queen. Liam had been all but forced to take the throne, if only to lead his people to safety. He had buried his father before he was even an adult, and left behind the home he loved more than he loved himself. 

He did his best to be royal. To be respectable. He loved his people above all else, but he was young yet, and he found himself bonding with the High King, and, by extension, his son.

They defeated the Scourge, though they bickered and battled with the Horde along the way. They argued in the past and present on Draenor, and fought tooth and nail over Pandaria. Liam reassured Varian that his son would live, and helped the prince through his slow recovery. 

 

His heart ached to see Anduin like this.

He was older than Liam had been, but he had more than only his people to worry about. Liam heard him at night, shuffling around in his room, muttering to himself. (Damn the Curse for giving him such keen hearing.)

"You know I can't become the king of Stormwind," he said quietly one night, "but I'm sure your people would understand if you appointed someone else to rule the Alliance."

Anduin only smiled sadly and declined. 

"I would trust you with my life, Liam, but my people need me right now. I can't."

He felt his nails start to grow sharper. _What they need is a king who isn't deprived of rest to the point of falling asleep when he sits down to dinner_ , he wanted to say.  _I can't watch you do this to yourself._

But he dug the slowly forming claws into his palms and bit his tongue. "I understand. Just . . . know that I'm here to help, should you need it."

"I'll remember that. Thank you, Liam."

(Anduin discreetly had one of the mages cast a sound-cancelling spell on his private chambers.)

 

"The boy has never known the horrors of the Legion as we have."

"No. I haven't."

The hair on his neck stood on end as he whipped around, furious and protective, but his anger left him when he saw the way the High King held himself. Limp, almost, and defeated, as though he could not keep the air in his chest. He knew the feeling.

"Anduin-"

"What are you  _doing_?"

"I had to come here."

He knew that feeling too.

"Anduin," he said, "you don't need to see this."

(At least, that was what he told himself every time he felt the urge to return to the ruins that had once been Gilneas.)

"Father . . ."

The High King tensed, and he fell to his knees. Liam watched as he brushed the dust off half of his father's sword, Ellemayne.

"You never surrendered," he said softly. "Even here. At the very end. I cannot do this, Father. I can't be the hero you were. I can't be the king you were."

Liam swallowed the lump rising in his throat and stepped forward. "Anduin," he said. "Your father was a great man. He was a hero to his people—to  _your_ people. With everything he did, he dared us to follow his example." He lifted the sword. "And he never let fear win over his resolve. Even here, at the very gates of Hell."

Anduin looked up at him for a moment. His eyes went blank, as though he was staring at something far away, and then he closed them.

Ellemayne lit up with golden, holy Light in his hands.

 

Liam stood off to the side in Lion's Rest, watching with the citizens of Stormwind and heroes of the Alliance as Anduin gave his first speech as their king. 

For a moment, all was peaceful. The sun shone high above, and a gentle breeze rolled though the park. He didn't want to admit it, but Anduin's voice was much easier to listen to than Varian's had been. It was gentle, but not meek, and inspired the very souls of all who listened.

He wished their fathers could have been there to see this.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [losses and gains and losses](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16771933) by [emrys (livingshitpost)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/livingshitpost/pseuds/emrys)




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